The invention relates to a trench cutter comprising at least two cutting wheels or pairs of cutting wheels, whose axes of rotation are offset from each other.
From DE 34 24 999 C2 two different types of trench cutters can be taken. There are trench cutters with one cutting wheel or a pair of cutting wheels having two cutting wheels that have a joint axis of rotation. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of DE 34 24 999 C2, a single pair of cutting wheels is set into rotation by a joint drive. A corresponding gear arrangement to drive a single pair of cutting wheels is equally known from DE 196 52 022 A1.
A generic trench cutter having two pairs of cutting wheels that are offset from each other in a transverse direction to the axes of rotation is illustrated in FIG. 1 of DE 34 24 999 C2. The two pairs of cutting wheels are each set into rotation by a separate drive motor through a corresponding gear arrangement.